Ian McEwan is currently under fire for some nearly word-for-word (though confessed and acknowledged) parallels between his 2001 novel
Atonement and the 1977 memoir of novelist Lucilla Andrews. It appears that McEwan openly admits to borrowing content, and graciously set a few words aside at the end of his novel to admit this. (
Slate takes a close look at some of the passages in question
here.)
Notorious literary recluse Thomas Pynchon even stayed out of his shell longer than usual to defend Mr. McEwan -- his
letter of support, among others, can be read on
McEwan's site. Pynchon says writers, particularly those of historical fiction, have "some obligation to accuracy," while other weakly defend McEwan by saying that he creatively augmented the facts used in another book to build his own. (
Slate's side-by-side of two near identical passages pretty much debunks this claim.)
Without having personally evaluated McEwan's text against Andrews' (except for the aforementioned), I'm not in a position to really judge the author's guilt. The bigger issue, I feel, is that novelists have been acting as though absolved from a great many things for a very long time, not the least of which being the freedom with which they "borrow" ideas from other sources. (Virginia Woolf wrote
Mrs Dalloway just days after having read -- and rejected -- Joyce's
Ulysses, a book of very similar style and stucture. The bloodline of borrowers, copiers, and cheaters goes back way beyond that, I'm sure.)
This seems to me a classic case of failure to accept responsibility, which is pandemic among artists and writers. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" a writer often thinks when edits to his/her work are suggested (this is first-hand knowledge, not speculation, having received responses similar or identical after suggesting changes to prospective
Void content -- one writer even lashed out, in response to a suggestion to a
book review, "You should never tell a writer what or how to write!"). For good reason, writers are protective of their work, and are a proud bunch (also for good reason). After all, some of the greatest artistic accomplishments in history were in the written form, so it is not a task to be taken lightly. But perhaps writing should not be taken so personally, or so selfishly.
What I fear is that many authors (particularly those of -- I'll say it -- the literary sect) feel they do not live under the same rules and guidelines as other artists and, by extension, other creators. And in an economy that is increasingly fueled by those in 'creative' jobs (see Richard Florida's
Rise of the Creative Class for more on that), the gap between the artist and the laborer is closing rapidly.
Hip-hop producers pay for samples used on tracks, filmmakers cite music and external clips in their credits, graphic designers must pay for rights to stock images used in their designs. And though McEwan didn't steal the text verbatim, the passages are reportedly similar enough that perhaps a mere letter of acknowledgement from the author at the conclusion of the text isn't enough to absolve him from scrutiny (or legal action, if necessary).
Writers often seem to think of themselves as "lone gunmen," as though not part of a culture or group or, god forbid, an industry. But the truth is this: published writers, even freelancers, get paid for their work. To be a few degrees colder about it, writers create -- through much labor -- a product, which is sold (agented), modified (edited), and released to the buying public (published) for consumption. The process is not so different from that of any inventor, or any entrepreneur who develops a business model and goes public with a new product. Just because writing is "artistic" doesn't absolve authors from following guidelines set by our society and our government.
So like it or not, authors, you have a responsibility -- and not just to yourself or your "craft," but to your readers and to the $16BN indsutry to which you contribute. If these things don't interest you, then keep giving out photocopied chapbooks to your family and friends each holiday season, and remain independent of any outside influence.
Realizing one's place as a functioning worker in this world is an important step toward accepting responsibility. And perhaps when more authors begin to see themselves writing outside of a vaccum, we will have fewer embarrassing literary overlaps, and more respect for the culture, the readers, and the industry that make publishing a book even possible to begin with.
Sidney Sheldon, author of dozens of novels, screenplays, scripts, and the like, died Tuesday afternoon at the age of 89. 
